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2025 County Report

Fires in Umatilla County, OR

In 2025, fire departments serving Umatilla County responded to 833 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

61,480 residents FIPS 41059 64 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
833
3,708 across 5 years
Building fires
59
276 wildland
Property loss
$5.7M
$3.9M structure · $1.8M contents
Casualties
0 / 6
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 6 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.

833
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 125 15.0%
Grass fire 85 10.2%
Unauthorized burning 77 9.2%
Building fires 59 7.1%
Fire, other 50 6.0%
All other categories 437 52.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Umatilla County?

Jun peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 30
Feb 36
Mar 67
Apr 57
May 55
Jun 144
Jul 118
Aug 79
Sep 74
Oct 80
Nov 43
Dec 50
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Umatilla County

3,708 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 560
2022 610
2023 910
2024 795
2025 833
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 59 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
47%
138
Cause undetermined
11%
33
Intentional / arson
21%
60
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
18
Under investigation
5%
15
Act of nature (lightning)
10%
10
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Umatilla County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 81% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 Pilot Rock Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
2 $500,000 City of Pendleton Special outside fire, other Major
3 $258,000 City of Hermiston Building fires Major
4 $200,000 City of Hermiston Building fires Significant
5 $167,200 City of Pendleton Building fires Significant
6 $150,000 City of Hermiston Building fires Significant
7 $145,000 City of Hermiston Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
8 $80,000 Echo Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $80,000 City of Pendleton Building fires Significant
10 $75,000 City of Pendleton Building fires Significant
06 How Umatilla County compares

Umatilla County vs OR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.55
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Umatilla County
13.55
OR avg
8.47
US avg
7.15
0.96
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Umatilla County
0.96
OR avg
0.83
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Umatilla County
0
OR avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Umatilla County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 41059.

09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in OR

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Bootleg 2021 USFS 413,715
2 Saddle Draw 2014 BLM 280,310
3 LIONSHEAD 2020 BIA 198,346
4 Beachie Creek 2020 USFS 193,565
5 Chetco Bar 2017 BLM 190,524
6 Monkey Creek 2024 BLM 178,541
7 RAIL RIDGE 2024 BLM 176,660
8 Double Creek 2022 USFS 175,937
9 Klondike 2018 BLM 173,614
10 Holiday Farm 2020 USFS 173,392

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.